         | |-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| PRESIDENT CLINTON?S RADIO ADDRESS TO THE NATION: |
| RAISING THE MINIMUM WAGE |
| A SMART POLICY FOR AMERICA?S WORKERS AND THE AMERICAN ECONOMY |
| Saturday, July 29, 2000 |
| |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Today, in his weekly radio address, President Clinton will call on Congress
to pass clean, straightforward legislation to raise the minimum wage by $1
? from $5.15 to $6.15 ? in two equal steps. The President first called for
an increase in the minimum wage in his State of the Union Address in
January 1999. Congress at first stalled and then held the minimum wage
increase hostage for tax cuts that are part of a costly and fiscally
irresponsible plan that would drain the entire surplus and leave nothing
for priorities like an affordable Medicare prescription drug benefit.
Congressional delay has cost a full-time minimum wage worker over $900.
? The President?s Proposal to Raise the Minimum Wage by $1 to $6.15 an
Hour Would Potentially Benefit More than 10 Million American Workers ? Most
of Whom Are Adult Workers. 10.1 million hourly paid workers make between
$5.15 and $6.14 an hour and thus would potentially benefit from a $1
increase in the minimum wage. About 69 percent of these workers are adults
(age 20 or over), about 60 percent are women, about 45 percent worked
full-time, and about 33 percent are parents with children under age 18. In
1997, the earnings of the average minimum wage worker accounted for 54
percent of their family's total earnings.
? Increasing the Minimum Wage Would Help Hard-Pressed Families Pay for
Groceries, Rent, and Other Necessities. Raising the minimum wage from
$5.15 to $6.15 would raise the annual earnings of a full-time worker by
about $2,000 a year. For a full-time worker, the minimum wage increase
would translate into enough money to pay for nearly 7 months of groceries
or 5 months of rent. Congressional delay has cost a full-time minimum wage
worker over $900 since September 1, 1999 ? the date originally proposed for
the first 50 cent increase by President Clinton, Senator Kennedy, and
Representative Bonior.
? The President?s Modest Increase Would Simply Restore the Real Value of
the Minimum Wage to What it Was in 1982. Raising the minimum wage by $1
over two years would simply restore the real value of the minimum wage to
what it was in 1982. This would help reverse the erosion in the real value
of the minimum wage during the 1980s when, between January 1981 and March
1990, the minimum wage was unchanged at $3.35 an hour, while prices rose by
nearly 50 percent.
? The Impact from Last Minimum Wage Increase Is Clear: over 10 Million
Workers Got A Raise and Strong Job Growth Continued. Since the last
minimum wage increase in 1996/97, the economy has created more than 11
million jobs and the unemployment rate has fallen from 5.2 percent in
September 1996 to 4.0 percent in June 2000, near its lowest level in over
thirty years. Labor market trends for workers most affected by the minimum
wage increase ? including younger workers with lower educational levels and
minorities ? also show no negative impact of the minimum wage on
employment.
? Economic Studies Find No Negative Effect of the Minimum Wage on
Employment. Numerous careful economic studies, including ones by David
Card and Alan Krueger of Princeton University, have shown that increasing
the minimum wage has no negative effect on employment. Recent research has
even suggested that higher wages can increase employment, because they
increase employers? ability to attract, retain, and motive workers. And
they benefit workers by increasing the reward to work.
? The Minimum Wage Plays an Important Role in Ensuring That All Workers
Share in a Growing Economy. In the last seven years, incomes have grown
nearly as strongly from the bottom to the top of the income distribution,
ending a decades long increase in inequality. In contrast, in the previous
two decades inequality widened, as poorer workers saw their incomes decline
in real terms. Research has shown that the decline in the real value of
the minimum wage from 1979 to 1988 was responsible for approximately 24
percent of the increase in wage inequality experienced by men and about 32
percent of the increase in wage inequality for women.
? Recent Increases in the Minimum Wage Have Helped Reduce the Welfare
Caseload. By increasing the reward to work, a higher minimum wage attracts
new workers into the workforce. An analysis by the Council of Economic
Advisers showed that the 90 cent increase in the minimum wage signed into
law by President Clinton in 1996, and increased minimum wages in some
states, were responsible for 10 to 16 percent of the decline in welfare
caseloads between 1996 and 1998.
? Helping Ensure Parents Can Raise Their Children Out of Poverty. A
working parent with two children earning the minimum wage in 1993 made
$10,563 with the EITC (in 1998 inflation-adjusted dollars)?well below the
poverty line. In 1993 the President fought for an increase in the EITC and
in 1996 he fought for an increase in the minimum wage. As a result of
these changes, a comparably situated family in 1998 was above the poverty
line ? making $13,268, a 26 percent inflation-adjusted increase in their
standard of living.
Distribution of Wage and Salary Workers Paid Hourly Rates by State, 1999
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| | Number (in thousands) |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| Percent of All Wage and Salary |
| Workers |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| | $5.15 to $6.14 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| $6.15 to $7.14$5.15 to |
| $6.14$6.15 to $7.14 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Total | 10,093 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 8,37013.911.6 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| | |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Alabama | 202 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 14618.113.1 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Alaska | 9 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 135.57.6 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Arizona | 200 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 15715.211.9 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Arkansas | 130 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 10120.916.2 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| California | 1,463 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 1,02317.412.1 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Colorado | 79 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 927.38.4 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Connecticut | 62 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 707.58.6 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Delaware | 22 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 2110.810.0 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| DC | 12 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 1210.010.7 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Florida | 597 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 53015.513.8 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Georgia | 267 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 24813.112.3 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Hawaii | 47 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 2915.09.4 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Idaho | 58 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 4515.612.3 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Illinois | 428 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 35413.210.8 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Indiana | 180 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 2099.811.4 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Iowa | 103 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 9111.29.9 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Kansas | 123 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 9615.612.3 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Kentucky | 157 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 16114.214.7 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Louisiana | 297 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 12325.910.7 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Maine | 45 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 3911.810.4 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Maryland | 125 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 1379.510.5 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Massachusetts | 161 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 1629.69.7 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Michigan | 341 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 31211.310.3 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Minnesota | 115 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 1218.08.4 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Mississippi | 146 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 7422.711.5 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Missouri | 172 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 16911.911.8 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Montana | 54 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 3221.512.7 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Nebraska | 67 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 6813.213.6 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Nevada | 60 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 6011.211.3 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| New Hampshire | 29 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 318.28.5 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| New Jersey | 205 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 18710.69.8 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| New Mexico | 75 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 3918.09.1 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| New York | 566 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 39514.810.3 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| North Carolina | 247 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 22312.411.2 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| North Dakota | 34 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 2918.315.9 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Ohio | 427 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 35612.710.6 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Oklahoma | 170 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 12619.614.5 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Oregon | 35 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 1843.719.7 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Pennsylvania | 454 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 33813.810.3 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Rhode Island | 37 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 2513.49.3 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| South Carolina | 153 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 11614.911.3 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| South Dakota | 33 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 2915.213.7 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Tennessee | 208 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 21613.614.2 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Texas | 929 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 65318.513.1 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Utah | 61 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 8410.114.0 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Vermont | 21 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 2012.411.5 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Virginia | 218 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 20713.612.8 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Washington | 180 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 15810.99.6 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| West Virgina | 106 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 6022.212.8 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Wisconsin | 157 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 1778.910.0 |
| |
>---------------------------------|
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
| | |
| Wyoming | 25 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------->
>---------------------------------|
| |
| 1917.813.8 |
| Note: Workers in the $5.15 to |
| $6.14 category would be |
| directly affected by a $1.00 |
| increase in the minimum wage. |
| Those in the $6.15 to $7.14 |
| category could be affected by |
| spillovers. |
| |
>---------------------------------|
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, unpublished
tabulations from the Current Population Survey, 1999.
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